AS SCHOOL YEAR BEGINS, SERINO CALLS ON STATE TO PUT OUR CHILDREN’S EDUCATION FIRST

Posted by bob driscoll10pc on September 15, 2014

With the recent start to the school year, County Legislator and 41st state Senate District candidate Sue Serino (R,C,I-Hyde Park) is urging parents, educators and those concerned with the rising cost of school taxes to join her in support of promoting local students’ education. Calling the current system broken, Serino has launched a petition in support of restoring funding for local school districts and fighting back against radical plans that put our children second to illegal aliens and convicted criminals.

“As a young single mother who worked two jobs to make sure my son was able to receive a good education, I know how hard it is for families to make ends meet, which is why I’m running for state Senate,” said Serino. “I know many Hudson Valley families are dreading getting their property-tax bill in the mail. The fact that our local schools get $6,235 per pupil from the state, while schools across the rest of New York get an average of $8,301 per pupil is an outrage. This should concern every taxpayer in the district because our working-class families are making up the difference. The funding gap not only hurts our local children, it also shows why our local property taxes are so high.

“In addition, our Senator has allied himself with New York City politicians who support using $20 million of our hard-earned tax dollars to send illegal aliens to college and $272 million to educate violent criminals, including thugs, rapists and drug dealers. As a parent and small-business owner, I think this a slap in the face to the law-abiding students and parents who had to take out loans or save whatever they could just to achieve the American dream.”

Since taking office, Serino’s opponent has voted for budgets that have taken away $54.7 million from local school districts.

As part of her plan to support our local students, Serino is calling for a complete restoration of the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA), which was introduced for the 2010-11 fiscal year by Senate Democrats and has since taken $8 billion from New York State’s education system. This is leaving local school districts, which are funded by property taxes, to make up the difference. She is also calling on parents, students and taxpayers to sign her petition to tell Terry Gipson that our hard-earned dollars should go toward sending the children of struggling middle-class families to college, not illegal aliens and criminals.

The petition can be signed at sueserino.com/lets_put_our_childrens_education_first.